King of Fighters XIII
The King of Fighters XIII (ザ・キング・オブ・ファイターズ XIII?) is the thirteenth installment of The King of Fighters fighting game series developed and published by SNK Playmore. Released after The King of Fighters XII, this title significantly modifies the gameplay from its prequel, removing modes and adding ones that have been previously used in the series. It also expands the character roster, re-grouping the playable characters into three-member teams as in the previous installments. The game is set after the events from The King of Fighters XI and is also the conclusion of Ash Crimson's story arc, which started in The King of Fighters 2003. It follows another King of Fighters tournament secretly hosted by Those From the Past, the organization behind the events from the two previous games that are trying to break the seal of the demon Orochi and take its power. It was released for Japanese arcades on July 14, 2010, while ports for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 were during late 2011 in Japan and English regions, with Atlus and Rising Star Games being in charge of releasing them in the United States and Europe, respectively. The ports are notable for including more content to the original version such as new characters, stages and game modes Gameplay The game removes some of the gameplay systems used in the previous game: the Guard Attack system, the Critical Counter system, the Clash System as well as the dynamic, zooming camera. In their place, however, there are new systems that have been confirmed to be added; the first of the three is the new EX Mode, which convert each character's super moves into more powerful versions that allows one bar from the player's power gauge for EX Special Moves and two bars from the player's power gauge for EX Desperation Moves. Another new addition is the Hyper Drive mode, which gives the player unlimited use of Drive Cancels for a while once the Hyper Drive Gauge has been maxed, and the last new feature confirmed for the game is the Drive Cancel system, which opens up new combo possibilities. The game also marks the return of the multi-bar power gauge that was introduced in The King of Fighters '97. In addition to standard and EX Desperation Moves, a new class of Desperation Move entitled "NEO MAX" are included in the game and require that three stocks of gauge be exchanged in order to perform one, making it similar to Hidden Desperation Moves (The King of Fighters 2002) and Leader Desperation Moves (The King of Fighters 2003). These can also be cancelled from standard Desperation Moves, making them similar to the "Dream Cancels" from The King of Fighters XI. The console version is based on the 1.1 update of The King of Fighters XIII arcade which fixed several issues from the original version. It also contains a story mode that influenced by the player's actions with various perspectives being available. The mode is presented in visual novel style alongside fights, something considered to be hard to include in the arcade version by the SNK Playmore staff. Other modes shown are Arcade, Practice and Challenge.The online gameplay is based on the one included in later versions of The King of Fighters XII, which fixed the issues the initial one had. Plot The game takes place after The King of Fighters XI and is the last game of the third story arc that started in The King of Fighters 2003. The fighter Ash Crimson has absorbed the powers from two of the descendants of the clans who sealed the Orochi away 1,800 years ago, Chizuru Kagura and Iori Yagami, while Kyo Kusanagi is to be his last victim. As his former comrade, Elisabeth Blanctorche, prepares to stop him, fighters receive an invitation to another King of Fighters tournament hosted by a person labelled as "R". The tournament is sponsored by Rose who is being controlled by "Those From The Past", the organization behind the two previous tournaments that has been trying to break Orochi's seal. When the winning team reaches the game's end, Saiki, the leader of "Those From The Past" puts his work into motion. Saiki intends to use the energy expended by the winning team to enable him to cross time. However, as the fight rages, Botan notes that the gate that links them to the past is starting to close despite the battle. Before Saiki can act, he is ambushed by Ash Crimson, who steals his power. It is revealed then that, while Ash was enlisted by Saiki to obtain the Three Sacred Treasures to power the time gate, Ash had no intention of helping Saiki. Ash is suddenly overtaken by Saiki's persona, who then attempts to cross the time gate in Ash's body. The winning team pursues him into the time gate and the final battle of The King of Fighters XIII begins inside the time gate. Saiki is defeated in the gate but persists on crossing over to the past, believing it means nothing since he can return to the past and then cross the gate again to attempt his plan anew. However, Ash halts his attempt and allows the gate to close, leaving Saiki trapped in the present. Furthermore, Ash reveals that he is a descendant of Saiki. By locking Saiki out of the gate, he denies Saiki's existence in the past and forces his own existence to cease. As Ash vanishes from the living world, the flow of time resumes. Characters See also: List of The King of Fighters characters The roster of The King of Fighters XIII features all the characters who appeared in The King of Fighters XII, including the two console-exclusive characters, Elisabeth Branctorche and Mature. In addition, at the Akihabara event, three new characters were announced in the form of The King of Fighters '94 Women's Team (Yuri Sakazaki, King, and Mai Shiranui). Unlike The King of Fighters XII, all of the characters are organized into proper teams this time with the exception of Ash, who is now a single entry character. On April 22, 2010, Famitsu reported the addition of two new characters to the game: Vice for Iori Yagami's team and Takuma Sakazaki for the Art of Fighting team. The official website was soon updated with the changes as well as adding a storyline for Iori's team, and on the April 23, 2010 location test at Hong Kong, Hwa Jai from Fatal Fury: King of Fighters has been confirmed to be in the game as the final member of Kim Kaphwan's team. The first member of the final team, K', was revealed on April 30 with his addition to the roster page. Maxima was also revealed as the second member of K's Team via addition to the roster page on May 7 and one week later, the final character for K's Team, Kula Diamond, was introduced in the same way. Saiki, the manipulator behind the events of The King of Fighters XIII, appears as sub-boss while an alternate form of Ash Crimson appears as the final boss. On June 28, 2011, Famitsu reported the addition of Billy Kane from Fatal Fury: King of Fighters as a console version exclusive character. On July 29, 2011, the human form of Saiki was also announced to be playable, while the original Iori Yagami will be featured as downloadable content. Following Iori's appearance, Atlus announced "NESTS Style Kyo", which features Kyo Kusanagi's moveset from The King of Fighters '99, as another downloadable character. As a result of a technical error, the patch was delayed to January 1, 2012 for the PlayStation 3. A new DLC including bugfixes (mainly on online mode) and Mr. Karate (Takuma Sakazaki's alter ego) as a new character became available on January 11, 2012. Versions During June 2011, SNK Playmore confirmed that the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 console versions were in the works and would be released on October 27, 2011 in Japan. However, in September 2011 SNK delayed the game's release date to an unspecified one from the same year, later leaving it to December 1, 2011.[2] The ports are notable for adding several game modes not seen in the original version as well as new characters. Atlus had confirmed that they would publish the game on October 25, 2011 in North America. However, they later delayed it until November 22. Preorders for the game included a 4-CD soundtrack from the series. In August 2011, the preorders for the game notably increased following the announcement. Rising Star Games also confirmed they will release the game on October 28, 2011 in Europe. However, the release date was stated to be during Winter of 2011 by Rising Star Games. Various new arenas were also added, with some of them being originally from the Art of Fighting and Fatal Fury series. The others are based on places briefly seen in cutscenes from The King of Fighters. All of the characters had their movesets adjusted for better balance as a response to issues found in the arcade versions. Downloadable content was also been confirmed, including variants of existing characters. An iOS version was also released on July 7, 2011 under the title of The King of Fighters-i. Kei Yamamoto was also in charge of this version, but the developed team consisted of another one that did not work in the arcade version. The staff had trouble adapting the game to the iOS due to lack of balances of moves and enemies' intelligences. The initial roster was reduced although six more characters became available by September 2011 alongside an updated version. Billy Kane was included as a result of his popularity within fans, although some were confused by the absence of Iori Yagami. Depending on the game's popularity, the staff may port it to other consoles. Reception Following its release, The King of Fighters XIII received positive reviews, taking an average of 81% and 79% for both console versions in GameRankings and a 79 in Metacritic. The gameplay was given major praise with critics from GameSpot and 1UP.com comparing it with critically acclaimed fighting games like Street Fighter IV and finding the execution satisfying despite possible difficulties to newcomers to the franchise. The visual presentation was complimented to the point GamePro stated that the game "has an incredibly distinct -- and incredibly beautiful -- visual style to it." SNK Playmore was noted to have listened to all the fans' concerns regarding the game as the character roster was increased, with the notable return of fan favorite characters. On the other hand, the game has received criticism as a result of the its story mode which is nearly inaccessible to those unfamiliar with the series as well as its use of illustration alongside large paragraphs telling the plot. Similar comments were given to the online modes as it lacked options to allow players to watch other online fights. The PlayStation 3 version of the game sold 21,525 copies in Japan during its first week of release. GameSpot awarded it as Best Fighting Game of the Year, and as the Most Improved Sequel. Links *[http://game.snkplaymore.co.jp/official/kof-xiii/ Official The King of Fighters XIII website] (Japanese) *[http://game.snkplaymore.co.jp/official/kof-xiii/blog/ Official The King of Fighters XIII blog] (Japanese) *[http://www.snkplaymore.com.hk/kof-xiii_website/kof-xiii_website/website/official/kof-xiii/ Official The King of Fighters XIII website] (traditional Chinese (HK)) *[http://www.atlus.com/kofxiii Official The King of Fighters XIII website] *[http://snk.wikia.com/wiki/The_King_of_Fighters_XIII The King of Fighters XIII at SNK wiki] Category:2011 video games Category:Most Wanted Games